The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1887-09-14
A Sea-(Iull's StratageIn.

81 had very singular experience last
Sunday" said tradcsman, whose SHOP
in Oakland is adorned by the sign
"Ornithdogical Rarities," but who. on
pinch, would sell dog or rabbit. 81
was walking on the beach, not very fal
from the Cliff House, and I had just
noticed that an unusually large number
of sea-gulls were flying over the sands,
when a hard substance struck me VIC
lcntly upon the head and staggered me-
Luckily my hat was very thick, and | am
blessed with tolerably solid skull. So
l soon recovered myself, and was look
inc about to ascertain what had hit me,
when I was greatly startled by weird
and ghostly tluttering of wings foot
above me- A great gray gull had mar
rowly escaped alightlng upon my Shout
ders. He Just succeeded in checking his
impetuous descent as his feet almost
touched me. With queer kind of a
half-frightcned cry, he was again into the
air.
"But what had brought him so close
to mc2 Isoon found out. Lying on the
sand was the thing that had given me
the blow upon the head. Is was large
black mussel, and the sea-gull had
dropped it from dizzy height upon my
unolfcnding scalp. 1 have studied the
habits of these birds pretty carefully, and
knew very we'll why he had done it. He
was trying to get at his dinner; and as
the shell Of the musscl was still unbroken,
and wished to try him again, I walked
couple of hundred yards away, and
then turned to watch his movements.
"Seeing that the coast was clear, he
quickly flew back to the place where the
mussel had fallen, seized it in his beak
and, again rising high into the air, he
let it drop. He followed it closely as it
fell, keeping almost beside it during the
greater part of the descent, and only
moderating his downward rush when
he was in danger of dashing himself
upon the beach. The mussel struck the
sand, but the shell was still unbroken,
and, indeed, it was very evident to me
that the soft ground that received it
would never lay it open. The gull's
last chance had failed when his booty
struck nv consistent head and bounded
off uninjured.
1.-THE bird, after another unsuccessful
effort, seemed to come to this conclusion
also, for presently, as he seized the
mussel, he looked around, and spying me
lurking on the beach, he few up again,
and soaring about tive hundred feet
above me, he dropped the scaled meal as
before, and accompanied it on its way
down. suppose he must have mistaken
my capacious skull for rock, and an un-
commonly good shot he made at it. OF
course, l got out of harms way, how
ever, and then as 1 moved off, he took
the musscl again, and once more tried to
brain me in the interests of his appetite.
Th' n flung the mussel to distance. and
the gull, seeming to take this as hint
that my head was not chopping-bloek,
seized his troublesome delicacy and flew
away. 1 saw him turn little inland,
rise once more to a great height, dart
swiftly down, and then wing his way out
to sea. I found that many stones lay at
the place of his descent; so, doubtless,
perseverance was at length rewarded and
he had gone off to some lonely rock to
dine, or feed his family.-San Francisco
Examiner,